Reaper for me. I have others including Pro Tools 11, Fruity Loops, an early version of Sonar and Cakewalk. Pro-tools is not user friendly, at least for me, whereas Reaper, which cost 40 when I paid for it 7 years ago and have gone through multiple upgrades at no cost, is much more user friendly. It works with all of my drum software and synth programs. It also has a much smaller footprint on my pc. A great wealth of info for users at the Cuckos forum from beginner to the more advance recording techniques. Reaper gets my vote. Best bang for the buck out there imo.
I use Studio One 2 on a windows machine I built. It's my experience that people who have trouble with PCs often don't know how to use them, and Apple users willfully don't know how to use them. As for Apple, their hardware is too lightweight for my workload, with the amount of tracks and plugins I use (120+ per song) Apple stuff can't handle it and the weak Intel processors they put in won't cut the mustard.
FYI, my Mac mini is about 3 years old with a 2.3GHz i5, and I just tested a song with over 100 tracks, most with plugins, and it played just fine and used maybe 15% of the CPU.
I dont know how Pro Tools has become so popular... though when reading through threads like these, it appears most do not use it Ive struggled with PT LE for at least 15 years...I want it...but it never runs properly. It is so picky with what it runs with. Ive tried it all...and finally went with a mac....cause everyone says it works with macs...right? No, first compatibility check with my iMac....no it doesnt run PT...what????
I only did it as a stress test to prove that I could. The few times that I've done full band recordings, the most tracks I do is usually 40-50. It helps to use track groupings. A group of 7-8 drum tracks. 2-3 bass tracks, depending on the takes. A group for each guitarist, each with 4-5 tracks, including dry tacks for re-amping. 2-3 vocal tracks, depending on takes and backing vocals. Plus any throw away tracks.
Presonus Studio One 2. It is a super user friendly version of Cubase and has a built in mastering suite. When you want to master, all you do is send your mix to the project side of the software and bingo you have your 2 track. You can master a song or an album like this, and then burn it to CD using redbook or upload it straight to SoundCloud etc. It is an awesome bit of kit. This vid won't embed cos the URL has the F word in it.. LOL.. So if youre interested click the top link. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Presonus+Studio+One+Pro+-+Mastering+a+Song
I love pro tools. I'm using PT 10 in studio. I've never had a problem with it on windows. Audacity is really cool for basic stuff. I also still use Acid Pro from Sony for quick mixes too.
Been using cubase for over 20 years. lol, Im getting old. My first version was a black and white sequencer for a mac. No such thing as "audio" tracks. You did audio by using symte and a real to real tape machine. my first version was on 3.5" floppies. Truly blew my mind when one could actually start recording audio in a daw. However, and to this day it still pisses me off, in THOSE days, it was right of passage. One could easily spend many more hours trying to get it to work as one did actually recording music. Back in those days, on the cubase forum popular threads were. "to much latency, pops, clicks etc" Answers were (and Im not kidding) who is the motherboard manufacturer and what chipset? Oh, that montherboard requires a firmware update and you are definately going to need different memory and a new harddrive. LOL. Now its pretty much buy any POS interface, plug it in, and start recording. AND KEEP OFF MY GRASS!!!!!!
Running Sonar. Was running X3 but they recently released the new Sonar platform so now I'm running Platinum. I have not recorded with it yet but it's getting some good press from my buds that are using it....They sell subscriptions or you buy outright. Upgrade was 149 CDN.
Hey Dozer, I've been a big fan of Studion One for about a year or so, and recently upgraded to the producer version. I have to admit that while I've become a litte better at learning how to use its (many) features, there is still so much of it I dont know how to use. I have been on youtube quite a bit, but that seems fairly limited. Did you learn mainly via trial and error, or was there a source that you found helpful to learn its functionality? I have recorded songs with several tracks, and done some basic mixing, but I know there is so much more I could be doing. Any suggestions on good sources for learning? Thanks!
(great info, thanks, lots to look into) ...was using an Emu 1820m on XP, am finding it's not supported under Windows 7 (64) so it may be end of the road for it. Not to hijack the thread, I have to ask ...anyone here get the 1820m working properly on Windows 7 (64) using the Windows Vista (64) drivers? ...or under Linux/ASIO even?
Hey Nado, I have a great source of information buddy. There is a fella called David Vignola that has his own recording studio called Vision Recording Studios and he also makes tutorial vids . Hands down the best tutorials i have ever seen. Check this out I promise you will find everything that you need to know. I was using Cubase until I found this guy and it was his videos that sold me on Studio One. Check out this vid and all the vids on his channel. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO6BfSz1sKE[/ame] Here are his tutorials which only cost $15 each ! I suggest buying Mixing Made Easy. http://homerecordingmadeeasy.com/Home_Recording_Made_Easy/Products.html
Reaper user here, I do have Cubase 4LE & 5, but don't even have 'em installed...I've tried Cubase, Sonar (don't remember what version, it was about 4-5 years ago), Mixcrat, & Audacity, but stuck with Reaper mainly because of the light CPY hit, but you can also customize it for yourself.... Sometimes, I'd like to try Pro Tools just to see what I'm missing, but I've read horror stories about it, so I'll just stick with Reaper, as I've been using it so long now, it's almost second nature... DOD: Have you tried enabling all the inputs on your interface in the Reaper preference tab??? It's just under where you select the ASIO driver, you need to click on the 3-4 drop down menus to enable all of 'em...I had the same issue with my Kontakt interface (my issue was the outputs, but learned about the inputs too), but finally figured it out....If you need any help, lemme know...
Just upgraded to Sonar Platinum. I have X3 Producer, so upgrading is a bit easier on the bank account at $149. What's cool is it comes with Addictive Drums 2, plus 3 add-on packs, midi and 3 add-on pieces. That's over $500 of free stuff. They have a free demo of it, so if you guys are looking for something new, different or better, give it a try.
Samplitude. Same rendering engine as Sequoia. Use it for mastering... figure it's good enough to record and mix with. Just got power to my new mastering studio today. Should be back in production within the next 3 months. Been a long, hard climb on this mountain I moved to. Life is good. Cheers
